Role of Information Techonology
Role of Information Technology in Tourism
Anand V. Nath
PGDIT, IIITMK. anandv.pg3@iiitmk.ac.in[->0]
Abstract
The importance of information technology in tourism, especially of the World Wide Web, has increased tremendously over the past years and this trend will certainly continue. However, since the technology itself is now available to almost everyone, its use alone does not necessarily bring a competitive advantage anymore. The integration of IT into the organizational fabric of the destination marketing organization (DMO) is an important key to success. Integration means that technology, advertising strategy and overall organizational mission/goals are coordinated to achieve the desired effectiveness. Traditional advertising strategies should be reconfigured to reflect the new realities (i.e., availability, interactivity, and research capabilities) of Internet technologies and of the rapidly changing business environment.
It is difficult for most destination marketing organizations to keep pace with the evolution of new technologies, the emergence of innovative advertising strategies, the changes in the consumer market, and the growing competition due to increasing globalization. They often have to struggle with limited financial and human resources, a lack of technological expertise, and time constraints.
Accordingly, various high tech information and communication technologies are in use in the tourism sector around the world. They are used for tourism product development, marketing, distribution and training of tourism sector personnel. These technologies are so indispensable in order to find out and satisfy the ever-changing demands for tourism products.
One of the unique characteristics of tourism products is the need of the role played by the so-called travel intermediaries. These travel intermediaries are travel agents, tour operators, conference organizers booking agents etc. They
Deepa Menon
PGDIT, IIITMK.
Anand V. Nath
PGDIT, IIITMK. anandv.pg3@iiitmk.ac.in[->0]
Abstract
The importance of information technology in tourism, especially of the World Wide Web, has increased tremendously over the past years and this trend will certainly continue. However, since the technology itself is now available to almost everyone, its use alone does not necessarily bring a competitive advantage anymore. The integration of IT into the organizational fabric of the destination marketing organization (DMO) is an important key to success. Integration means that technology, advertising strategy and overall organizational mission/goals are coordinated to achieve the desired effectiveness. Traditional advertising strategies should be reconfigured to reflect the new realities (i.e., availability, interactivity, and research capabilities) of Internet technologies and of the rapidly changing business environment.
It is difficult for most destination marketing organizations to keep pace with the evolution of new technologies, the emergence of innovative advertising strategies, the changes in the consumer market, and the growing competition due to increasing globalization. They often have to struggle with limited financial and human resources, a lack of technological expertise, and time constraints.
Accordingly, various high tech information and communication technologies are in use in the tourism sector around the world. They are used for tourism product development, marketing, distribution and training of tourism sector personnel. These technologies are so indispensable in order to find out and satisfy the ever-changing demands for tourism products.
One of the unique characteristics of tourism products is the need of the role played by the so-called travel intermediaries. These travel intermediaries are travel agents, tour operators, conference organizers booking agents etc. They
Deepa Menon
PGDIT, IIITMK.
References: 1. White Paper on Advertising Strategy and Information Technology in Tourism by Ulrike Gretzel, Yulan Yuan, Daniel R. Fesenmaier (NLTeC). 2. Information Technology: Its Uses in Tourism Industry by Mekonnen G and Egziabher (Catering and Tourism Training Institute) 3. GIS applications in tourism planning (GIS Seminar paper). PDF to Word[->2] [->0] - mailto:anandv.pg3@iiitmk.ac.in [->1] - mailto:deepa.pg3@iiitmk.ac.in [->2] - http://pdfonline.blogspot.com